


Bread

by Polyhexian



Series: Humanformers: The Music AU [50]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Humanformers, Multi, POV Third Person, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:40:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26980777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Polyhexian/pseuds/Polyhexian
Summary: Brainstorm tells his mom he's gay.
Relationships: Brainstorm/Chromedome/Rewind (Transformers)
Series: Humanformers: The Music AU [50]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1859230
Comments: 12
Kudos: 35





	Bread

Brainstorm tilted his head into Chromedome's idle touch, running along his scalp and through his hair. He was halfway in his lap on the couch, leaning back against his belly while Chromedome read a true crime novel he'd heard good reviews of, Rewind across the room at his desk editing a video essay about some kind of internet urban legend he wanted to debunk.

"Oh, nothing, just hanging out with my roommates," Brainstorm said, shifting his phone as he rolled over, getting comfy, "it's just a lazy Sunday, you know?"

"The best kind of Sunday," his mother responded, and he could hear the smile in her voice, "It's communion Sunday today, so I had to get up early. I like to bake fresh bread for the congregation."

"That's gotta be a lot of bread," Brainstorm commented, "How much do you have to make?"

"Oh, it's only just a little pinch for each person, so it's just about three or four. It's worth it, though. Have you ever made bread before?"

"No! Never," Brainstorm answered, "Is it hard?"

"It's actually very easy, and very satisfying. It's nice to make things with your hands. I can show you how, if you want."

"I'd love that!" Brainstorm bubbled, and he would. He was quite happy to let Chromedome take over as the household chef and had no personal desire to learn how to cook, but any excuse to visit his mom was a good one.

"Are you busy Saturday?" she asked, "We can make enough to bring home to your friends."

"That would be nice," Brainstorm sighed, "I don't think anybody would turn their noses up to homemade bread."

"I'd love some homemade bread," Chromedome commented, clearly eavesdropping. Brainstorm stuck his tongue out at him, leaning his head back.

"Oh, was that Chromedome?" his mother laughed, "Tell him I say hi."

"Mom says hi," Brainstorm repeated.

"Hi mom," Chromedome answered, flicking his gaze toward him to give him a fond smile. 

"Aww!" she laughed, having heard him, "He's such a good boy. He takes such good care of you."

"Haha, yeah, um," Brainstorm laughed nervously, "I'll see you Saturday, then."

"I'll see you Saturday, love!" 

Brainstorm hung up and set his phone down, curling into Chromedome's abdomen with a soft sigh as his arm fell around his back, enjoying the warmth and presence of their bodies together, soft and safe. 

"Still haven't told her we're dating?" Chromedome asked, tilting his book away. Brainstorm hummed a guilty negative. "That's okay. You don't have to."

"I want to," Brainstorm mumbled, "I don't know how to."

"You can try just saying it," Chromedome suggested.

"But what if she has a _problem_ with it?" he fretted, tightening his grip, "I don't think I can stand being rejected again. I don't know what I would do."

"You'll come home and we will commiserate together," Chromedome said softly, setting the book aside to hold him with both arms, "And we'll get through it together."

Brainstorm was quiet for a moment, feeling Chromedome's chest move with his breath, the full beat of his heart beneath his skin. "Okay."

"Don't do anything you don't want to," Chromedome reminded him, "But no matter what happens, we'll take care of you. Okay?"

"Okay," Brainstorm sighed.

* * *

Brainstorm was kneading the dough in his bowl with his hands, sleeves rolled up past his elbows and arms spotted with patches of starkly contrasted flour. Sunlight spilled in through the open curtains from the sliding glass doors into the kitchen, and his mother was humming happily as she pulled down spices from her cabinet, reorganizing the rotating rack on the bottom shelf. 

"It's nice to do things with your hands," she said, breaking off her tune, "I think it always helps things feel real. You made something exist that didn't before. It makes me feel connected to the world and the Earth and the people on it." 

"That's really nice," he commented, "Sometimes I don't really feel a part of things. I'm kind of isolated."

"You have friends, though!" she beamed, shaking a little container of cumin to see if it was still good, "Sometimes a few really good friends is better than a lot of okay ones." 

"That's true," Brainstorm nodded, "But I've been trying to be more social. My therapist says I should. There's a girl in the same program as me, Nautica, and we get along. She's just brilliant."

"Is she also studying quantum physics?" she asked.

"Yeah, but she's got more of a focus in engineering and practical application whereas I'm more focused on the theoretical." He rolled the dough against the bowl with his palms, strange and sticky, "It's nice to compare and contrast approaches to dilemmas. She came over for dinner a few weeks ago! I don't think she realized who Rewind was, she called me and asked if she had the right house when she got there."

"It's a really surprising house!" his mother laughed, "He's so mild mannered, you would never realize he was so well off unless he told you. You got lucky with that one."

Brainstorm smiled, a pit of guilt roiling in his gut. "He's been a good friend. Better than I've ever had before. He's kind and patient and generous, and he wants so badly to make sure I'm alright. I think he's profoundly empathetic, and he can't handle seeing people in trouble without trying to help."

"He's a good boy," his mother smiled fondly, "I'm glad you found each other." She put another container up in the cabinet. "Chromedome, too."

Brainstorm's hands went still in the bowl, squeezing dough between his fingers as anxiety rose up in his throat. After a few moments of silence, she turned to look at him.

"Are you alright, hun?" she asked, visibly concerned. 

Brainstorm stared down at his hands, unable to look up. His heart beat in his chest, ice between his ribs.

"Stormy," she said, gently, leaning down to look up at him, "Are you okay?"

"I'm gay," he blurted out. 

"Oh," she said, blinking.

"I'm sorry," he said, and immediately regretted it.

"No, no, no, don't be sorry!" his mother gasped, "Oh, no, Stormy, dear, I love you! Listen, just- just hold that thought for one second, don't move, I'll just- just give me _one_ second-" 

Brainstorm looked up, surprised as she ran right out of the kitchen and into the back bedroom. He looked back down at his hands with an uncomfortable grimace and pulled them away, rubbing them together to get dough out from between his fingers and grabbing a paper towel.

The door burst open and his mother ran back in, panting a bit from her hurry. "Tada!" she cried, as she held her hands out wide to show him her "I love my gay son" t-shirt. "I bought this on Etsy a few months ago, just in case."

"You did?" Brainstorm asked, frozen like a statue, hands held together in front of him.

She nodded emphatically. "Yes! Yes, I did, I sort of thought, but, all the reading online said to let you tell me if you wanted to but not put any pressure on you to think you had to."

"You read about it online?" he repeated.

His mother put her hands on his upper arms, gentle and reassuring. "I'm so sorry it's so late," she said in earnest, "That you went so long without a mother, but I promise you, Brainstorm, there's nothing you could ever do that would make me stop loving you. You're my little boy."

Brainstorm sniffled and took a shuddering, anxious breath, resisting the urge to cry. "Ah," he said, because he knew he needed to say something. 

She pulled him in for a hug, one hand on the back of his head and he sniffled again, hugging her back and burying his face. "I love you, baby. No matter what."

"Okay," Brainstorm hiccupped, "I'm- um- I'm dating both of them," he stammered, desperate to get it all over with and out now, "I'm, um- it's. It's polyamory."

She pulled back, still smiling. "Is that it? I don't know as much about these things and I should, I'm so sorry, I wondered what was going on with you three. I couldn't quite puzzle it out!" She laughed, tucking one of his dreads behind his ear, "You'll have to tell me more about how that works. I wanna say all the right things."

"You do?" Brainstorm swallowed, "I- thank you."

She kissed his forehead, an overwhelmingly maternal gesture that made his stomach flip. "My sweet, brilliant boy. How could I ever want you to be anything but happy?" 


End file.
